Author's Note: I haven't written in a long time, and this is my first attempt at writing a Yami no Matsuei fanfic. I hope the quality isn't too poor. I only watched the anime version and totally missed the manga, so... *shrugs* Hope you enjoy this.
Chapter 1: Headless Corpses
"Eversince Hisoka joined him, Tsuzuki seemed to have slacked off less." Tatsumi stared down at the grid that appeared to be prove for his words. The upside down thing stared back blankly at him. It annoyed him enough to cause him to reach down and turn the thing around.
Konoe nodded as Tatsumi adjusted his his glasses with the first three fingers on his right hand. By the time he was finished, he found Konoe looking at him with a soft smile on his wrinkled, old face. "Perhaps you're right, Tatsumi. Hisoka may just be the perfect partner for Tsuzuki after all. This pairing is doing the both of them good." Konoe looked back down at the sign out records spread out on his desk. For the whole of last month, the space after Tsuzuki's name remained empty from sign outs. It was the first time in 53 years that the whole month was clear of anyone signing out. The last time it happened, it was because Tsuzuki spent a week in the hospital near the beginning of the month and went on a three week vacation after that. It was also the last time Tsuzuki got to keep his bonus.
"Perhaps he finally changed his lazy ways," Tatsumi suggested. His own tone though, proved he believed otherwise.
"If that was true, we should be worried that he's possessed by another demon," Konoe joked in reply. Both boss and secretary chuckled, with Tatsumi sounding slightly more reserved, at the unlikeness of Tatsumi changing for the better. He had been like that for over 71 years, and Tatsumi doubted he would change for no reason, at least not in the next century.
"Tatsumi, would you please retrieve Tsuzuki and Hisoka for me? I'll meet you guys in the meeing room. There's a new case for them." Konoe stood up and walked over to the new filing cabinet he got for his office. The thing was glossy and shiny, made from fine oak back in ChiJou where humans dwelled in such things as furniture. From there, he got out a folder labeled 'Kyushu'.
"Is it regarding the mass deaths over the past two weeks?"
The eldest of the division nodded and turned around to face his secretary seriously. "Yes, it is."
Tatsumi returned the serious look but without the grave grave nod. "I'll get them right away." With that, the very serious and more than slightly greedy Shinigami left the room heading for the main workroom.
On his way down the hall, Tatsumi's thoughts drifted to the sign out board results for the recently past month. Tsuzuki had not even signed out once to buy sweets and or cakes. That was unlike the lazy man he knew. The normal Tsuzuki signed out at least once a week. There was even once when he had signed out every single day for a whole week, causing him to be late for every meeting they held within the same week. Of course, Konoe was not overly happy about that, and thinking back, neither was Tatsumi himself.
"Maybe he really is sick or something..." This strange behavior was enough to get Tatsumi worried about him.
Meanwhile, in the main workroom, the sweet-toothed Shinigami was currently raising a delicious looking, mouth watering, sugar covered pastry to his mouth when he heard a certain secretary's voice muttering behind him, "I take back everything I said." Realizing Tatsumi was standing merely inches over his shoulder, Tsuzuki quickly sat up in his chair and leaned over to cover the other two pastries he had on his desk possessively.
Hisoka, seated in the chair beside his partner, rolled his eyes and gave Tsuzuki such a look that makes one wonder how could the boy stand being the partner of the older Shinigami. When the initial commotion was over, the younger Shinigami returned his attention back onto the thick tome he borrowed from their newly repaired library.
"Tsuzuki, finish your food later. Konoe wants to have a word with the two of you." Tatsumi's tone was a no nonsense one, and the two partners knew enough to place down what they held in their hands, though not without a bit of reluctance and whining from Tsuzuki. With all three pastries on his desk, Tsuzuki looked down wistfully at his wonderful meal before he got up and followed Tatsumi and Hisoka out of the room.
By the time they arrived to the meeting room, Konoe was already waiting for them inside. "Where's the GoShoShin brothers?" Hisoka asked on his way in. Tsuzuki and Tatsumi followed in behind him. While Tatsumi joined Konoe near the front, the other two sat down at the chairs in the center of the room.
"Yeah, and where's Watari too?" Tsuzuki added to his partner's previous question. Aside from the four of them, the room was empty of all other occupants when it was usually full of people whenever they have a case briefing.
"The Gushoshin finally went on their vacation breaks, which was delayed due to the reconstruction of the library." Tatsumi looked right at Tsuzuki when he said that. Although it was not a glare, it was still enough to cause Tsuzuki to cringe and bury himself deeper into his seat. Despite there were only the four of them in the room, Hisoka still tried to pretend that he does not know Tsuzuki.
"Watari's sent away on another case," Konoe replied as he set the slides up. Things were going slower than normal, since he rarely had to do everything himself. If anyone missed the GuShoShins the most, it was him, because now he had to do everything himself.
The news that Watari was off investigating something surprised Tsuzuki so much that it caused the Shinigami to leap from his seat. "He's on a case?! But the sixth block haven't need of a Shinigami for...." Pausing in midsentence, Tsuzuki tried to remember the number of years in question when Konoe's cough cut him off.
As soon as he got everyone's attention, the boss of the division started the meeting. "There are mass murders taking place in Kyoto. The Earl reported strange snuffings of candles that are happening ten at a time. What is strange about these snuffings is that none of the candles' owners belong on the kiseki." Konoe followed his words with a slide showing the bloody neck slumps of the mentioned victims. "All victims have their heads cut off, making identification hard for the humans. It would appear that they are gnawed off by a huge type of beast. As to what, it totally eludes humans."
Tsuzuki turned away from the gruesome sight to see Hisoka looking almost as pale as his green eyes. Not that he could blamethe poor boy. The slides on the projector screen were some of the worst ones he had seen even in his many years of experience.
"Twenty people died already," Tatsumi continued for Konoe while the latter person thankfully changed the slide to one of a map. "It would appear that both sets of crimes are committed on late Saturday nights, early Sunday mornings, between 10 pm to 7 am. The victims are not killed together, and the corpses are found in various spots around the same area. It would also appear that the victims are killed at hourly intervals."
"Why only Sunday mornings?" Tsuzuki asked with earnest.
"That's what you're going to find out." The look Konoe gave Tsuzuki made the younger Shinigami shrink back into his seat once again.
"EnmaDaiOh also placed a time limit on us. The two of you are to solve this before the next complete set of victims appear. The souls of these people, which don't belong to the kiseki are causing problems for Meifu," Tatsumi continued as Konoe started putting things away. The light reflecting off the secretary's glasses reminded Tsuzuki of the way people portrayed mad scientists or mad doctors in bad science-fiction movies or animes, but that train of thought reminded him of Muraki, a person he definitely didn't want to think about.
"Tsuzuki! Tsuzuki!"
Tsuzuki finally snapped out of it to find Hisoka glaring impatiently at him. Embarrassed to be caught drifting off and thinking they must be waiting for his assent on the case, he jumped out of his seat for the third time and saluted to Konoe and Tatsumi. "Don't worry, we'll get right on it!" He only paused when he found them all staring back at him as if they had no idea what he was doing. Tatsumi was holding an arm out with a packet of lunch money clutched at the end of it.
"We're glad to see you have enthusiasm for this case. Keep it up, Tsuzuki." It was the only thing Konoe could say in such an awkward situation while Tatsumi handed the money over.
Without waiting, the food loving Tsuzuki unceremoniously tore open the envelope to check its contents. "6000 ¥!! Tatsumi! You are so great!" Tsuzuki hugged the pictured envelope to himself as tightly as if it was an apple pie.
The way Tsuzuki looked with his beaming smile and tail wagging was so innocent, it made Tatsumi almost hate having to pop his happy bubble with the truth, but he did so in the end anyway. "That is for both you and Hisoka. You are getting 3000 ¥ each."
It was comical, the way Tsuzuki's puppy face looked crestfallen instantly. Tsuzuki sighed and his shoulders slumped. He should have known Tatsumi's too greedy to give him an extra few thousand just so he could get himself the most important part of a meal, dessert. One day, he was sure Tatsumi would appreciate dessert and its importance. In the meantime, he was just wondering if Hisoka would be nice enough to share his share when the boy came up behind him and grabbed the envelope out from his grasp. "Hey!" Too late, Tsuzuki could only watch as Hisoka took his 3000 ¥ out.
"You're not eating my share!"
The other two only laughed pitilessly as Tsuzuki sighed.
Chapter 1: Headless Corpses
"Eversince Hisoka joined him, Tsuzuki seemed to have slacked off less." Tatsumi stared down at the grid that appeared to be prove for his words. The upside down thing stared back blankly at him. It annoyed him enough to cause him to reach down and turn the thing around.
Konoe nodded as Tatsumi adjusted his his glasses with the first three fingers on his right hand. By the time he was finished, he found Konoe looking at him with a soft smile on his wrinkled, old face. "Perhaps you're right, Tatsumi. Hisoka may just be the perfect partner for Tsuzuki after all. This pairing is doing the both of them good." Konoe looked back down at the sign out records spread out on his desk. For the whole of last month, the space after Tsuzuki's name remained empty from sign outs. It was the first time in 53 years that the whole month was clear of anyone signing out. The last time it happened, it was because Tsuzuki spent a week in the hospital near the beginning of the month and went on a three week vacation after that. It was also the last time Tsuzuki got to keep his bonus.
"Perhaps he finally changed his lazy ways," Tatsumi suggested. His own tone though, proved he believed otherwise.
"If that was true, we should be worried that he's possessed by another demon," Konoe joked in reply. Both boss and secretary chuckled, with Tatsumi sounding slightly more reserved, at the unlikeness of Tatsumi changing for the better. He had been like that for over 71 years, and Tatsumi doubted he would change for no reason, at least not in the next century.
"Tatsumi, would you please retrieve Tsuzuki and Hisoka for me? I'll meet you guys in the meeing room. There's a new case for them." Konoe stood up and walked over to the new filing cabinet he got for his office. The thing was glossy and shiny, made from fine oak back in ChiJou where humans dwelled in such things as furniture. From there, he got out a folder labeled 'Kyushu'.
"Is it regarding the mass deaths over the past two weeks?"
The eldest of the division nodded and turned around to face his secretary seriously. "Yes, it is."
Tatsumi returned the serious look but without the grave grave nod. "I'll get them right away." With that, the very serious and more than slightly greedy Shinigami left the room heading for the main workroom.
On his way down the hall, Tatsumi's thoughts drifted to the sign out board results for the recently past month. Tsuzuki had not even signed out once to buy sweets and or cakes. That was unlike the lazy man he knew. The normal Tsuzuki signed out at least once a week. There was even once when he had signed out every single day for a whole week, causing him to be late for every meeting they held within the same week. Of course, Konoe was not overly happy about that, and thinking back, neither was Tatsumi himself.
"Maybe he really is sick or something..." This strange behavior was enough to get Tatsumi worried about him.
Meanwhile, in the main workroom, the sweet-toothed Shinigami was currently raising a delicious looking, mouth watering, sugar covered pastry to his mouth when he heard a certain secretary's voice muttering behind him, "I take back everything I said." Realizing Tatsumi was standing merely inches over his shoulder, Tsuzuki quickly sat up in his chair and leaned over to cover the other two pastries he had on his desk possessively.
Hisoka, seated in the chair beside his partner, rolled his eyes and gave Tsuzuki such a look that makes one wonder how could the boy stand being the partner of the older Shinigami. When the initial commotion was over, the younger Shinigami returned his attention back onto the thick tome he borrowed from their newly repaired library.
"Tsuzuki, finish your food later. Konoe wants to have a word with the two of you." Tatsumi's tone was a no nonsense one, and the two partners knew enough to place down what they held in their hands, though not without a bit of reluctance and whining from Tsuzuki. With all three pastries on his desk, Tsuzuki looked down wistfully at his wonderful meal before he got up and followed Tatsumi and Hisoka out of the room.
By the time they arrived to the meeting room, Konoe was already waiting for them inside. "Where's the GoShoShin brothers?" Hisoka asked on his way in. Tsuzuki and Tatsumi followed in behind him. While Tatsumi joined Konoe near the front, the other two sat down at the chairs in the center of the room.
"Yeah, and where's Watari too?" Tsuzuki added to his partner's previous question. Aside from the four of them, the room was empty of all other occupants when it was usually full of people whenever they have a case briefing.
"The Gushoshin finally went on their vacation breaks, which was delayed due to the reconstruction of the library." Tatsumi looked right at Tsuzuki when he said that. Although it was not a glare, it was still enough to cause Tsuzuki to cringe and bury himself deeper into his seat. Despite there were only the four of them in the room, Hisoka still tried to pretend that he does not know Tsuzuki.
"Watari's sent away on another case," Konoe replied as he set the slides up. Things were going slower than normal, since he rarely had to do everything himself. If anyone missed the GuShoShins the most, it was him, because now he had to do everything himself.
The news that Watari was off investigating something surprised Tsuzuki so much that it caused the Shinigami to leap from his seat. "He's on a case?! But the sixth block haven't need of a Shinigami for...." Pausing in midsentence, Tsuzuki tried to remember the number of years in question when Konoe's cough cut him off.
As soon as he got everyone's attention, the boss of the division started the meeting. "There are mass murders taking place in Kyoto. The Earl reported strange snuffings of candles that are happening ten at a time. What is strange about these snuffings is that none of the candles' owners belong on the kiseki." Konoe followed his words with a slide showing the bloody neck slumps of the mentioned victims. "All victims have their heads cut off, making identification hard for the humans. It would appear that they are gnawed off by a huge type of beast. As to what, it totally eludes humans."
Tsuzuki turned away from the gruesome sight to see Hisoka looking almost as pale as his green eyes. Not that he could blamethe poor boy. The slides on the projector screen were some of the worst ones he had seen even in his many years of experience.
"Twenty people died already," Tatsumi continued for Konoe while the latter person thankfully changed the slide to one of a map. "It would appear that both sets of crimes are committed on late Saturday nights, early Sunday mornings, between 10 pm to 7 am. The victims are not killed together, and the corpses are found in various spots around the same area. It would also appear that the victims are killed at hourly intervals."
"Why only Sunday mornings?" Tsuzuki asked with earnest.
"That's what you're going to find out." The look Konoe gave Tsuzuki made the younger Shinigami shrink back into his seat once again.
"EnmaDaiOh also placed a time limit on us. The two of you are to solve this before the next complete set of victims appear. The souls of these people, which don't belong to the kiseki are causing problems for Meifu," Tatsumi continued as Konoe started putting things away. The light reflecting off the secretary's glasses reminded Tsuzuki of the way people portrayed mad scientists or mad doctors in bad science-fiction movies or animes, but that train of thought reminded him of Muraki, a person he definitely didn't want to think about.
"Tsuzuki! Tsuzuki!"
Tsuzuki finally snapped out of it to find Hisoka glaring impatiently at him. Embarrassed to be caught drifting off and thinking they must be waiting for his assent on the case, he jumped out of his seat for the third time and saluted to Konoe and Tatsumi. "Don't worry, we'll get right on it!" He only paused when he found them all staring back at him as if they had no idea what he was doing. Tatsumi was holding an arm out with a packet of lunch money clutched at the end of it.
"We're glad to see you have enthusiasm for this case. Keep it up, Tsuzuki." It was the only thing Konoe could say in such an awkward situation while Tatsumi handed the money over.
Without waiting, the food loving Tsuzuki unceremoniously tore open the envelope to check its contents. "6000 ¥!! Tatsumi! You are so great!" Tsuzuki hugged the pictured envelope to himself as tightly as if it was an apple pie.
The way Tsuzuki looked with his beaming smile and tail wagging was so innocent, it made Tatsumi almost hate having to pop his happy bubble with the truth, but he did so in the end anyway. "That is for both you and Hisoka. You are getting 3000 ¥ each."
It was comical, the way Tsuzuki's puppy face looked crestfallen instantly. Tsuzuki sighed and his shoulders slumped. He should have known Tatsumi's too greedy to give him an extra few thousand just so he could get himself the most important part of a meal, dessert. One day, he was sure Tatsumi would appreciate dessert and its importance. In the meantime, he was just wondering if Hisoka would be nice enough to share his share when the boy came up behind him and grabbed the envelope out from his grasp. "Hey!" Too late, Tsuzuki could only watch as Hisoka took his 3000 ¥ out.
"You're not eating my share!"
The other two only laughed pitilessly as Tsuzuki sighed.